Syrian forces are carrying out more than 30 types of torture on prisoners, a report claims.
Amnesty International said civilians held by security forces in the
crackdown on anti-government protests were being horrifically abused.

The torture methods include crucifixion-type beatings, electric shocks
and rape, according to a report based on accounts from Syrians who had
fled to Jordan.

It said the testimonies were ‘further evidence that torture and other
ill-treatment in Syria form part of a widespread and systematic attack
against the civilian population’.

Destroyed: Syrian troops have planted landmines along routes used by people trying to flee President Bashar Assad's regime, it has been claimed. Pictured is a refugee camp

Camps: To stop Syrians from fleeing, like these refugees, troops are placing landmines along certain routes

Attack: Activists said government forces laid the banned weapons, which they fear will hurt citizens for 'years to come', in areas close to the Turkish border

At least 276 people had died in custody, Amnesty International said.

Yesterday troops killed dozens near the city of Idlib, activists claimed.

Troops have planted landmines
along routes used by people trying to flee President Bashar Assad's
regime, it has been claimed.

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Activists said government forces laid
the banned weapons, which they fear will hurt citizens for 'years to
come', in areas close to the Turkish border.

The
shocking new tactic was revealed as it was confirmed Syria would be
sending a team to this summer's Olympics in London, and they will
compete under the existing national flag.

New York-based Human Rights Watch's Steve Goose said the mines were planted in the past few days, and added: 'Any use of anti-personnel landmines is unconscionable.

'There is absolutely no justification for the use of these indiscriminate weapons by any country, anywhere, for any purpose.'

The continuation of violence came as the International Olympic Committee today said a small group of Syrian athletes could qualify for the Games.

Escape: It is no wonder they wish to leave, as cities like Homs have been reduced to rubble after constant shelling

Syrians carry bodies to a make-shift morgue in Bab al-Sebaa, a neighborhood in the restive city of Homs

An image taken from a video
purportedly shows bodies laid out in a make shift morgue in Bab al-Sebaa

'We continue dealing with the
athletes and we will try to make sure that Syrian athletes will be in
London,' said Pere Miro, IOC Director of National Olympic Committees
(NOC) relations and Olympic Solidarity.

'We
have been dealing in the past with the Syrian NOC to ensure that the
money goes to the athletes. Now we are using more direct ways,' Miro
added.

And he said all
of the athletes who can win a spot for the London Games were currently
training in Syria and had not left the country.

He said he expected four or five athletes to qualify for London, mainly in athletics and swimming, and as things stood at the moment they would march into the stadium under the Syrian flag.

'We are expecting this figure for athletes and then maybe another four or five officials (from Syria),' said Miro.

He added that among those automatically invited was the head of the country's Olympic Committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa. 'At the moment we treat the Syrian NOC as all the others but, sure, we keep our eye on the situation,' he said.

On the ground, the Syrian army today recaptured the northern rebel stronghold of Idlib near the Turkish border, a major base that military defectors had held for months.

President Bashar Assad also set nationwide parliamentary elections for May 7. The vote was initially to take place in March but was postponed after last month's referendum on the country's new constitution that allowed new political parties to run.

Smoke rises as Idlib city is shelled by government forces

A destroyed vehicle along a street damaged during the bombardment by the government army

In the past, the National Progressive Front, which includes Assad's ruling Baath party and 11 other closely associated groups, had dominated elections and the 250-member legislature.

However, it is unclear how an election can take place as a deadly spiral of violence continues to shake Syria.

Fresh from a month-long campaign that drove rebels out of another key base in central Homs, Assad's forces launched a siege on the city of Idlib three days ago.

The city had been under control of hundreds of fighters for the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The Al-Watan daily and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops were in control of Idlib today.

The Observatory added that the army was still facing some resistance pockets in three Idlib areas, including the central neighbourhoods of Dubait and Bustan Ghanoum.

Idlib, a predominantly Sunni city of some 150,000 people located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Homs, was among the first to fall in the hands of army defectors last summer.

Rebels were in control of a large parts of the city in the past months with troops present in some areas.

Destroyed buildings following shelling by the Syrian government army in the Inshaat district of Homs

Doctors try to save the life of a severely wounded Free Syrian Army fighter during conflict with government troops

An injured Free Syrian Army fighter is attended to by doctors after being injured during the fighting in Idlib

There was no official confirmation of its capture and calls to the area were not going through. Witnesses said this week that army defectors in the city have been running out of ammunition.

Many feared the offensive in Idlib could end up like the regime's campaign against the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in the city of Homs.

Troops besieged and shelled Baba Amr for almost a month before capturing it on March 1, after hundreds of civilians were killed.

In Geneva, the UN refugee agency said 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the uprising against Assad's regime began last year. The UN says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the past 12 months.

Panos Moumtzis, the UNHCR's coordinator for Syria said 30,000 people have already fled to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan and 'on a daily basis hundreds of people are still crossing into neighboring countries'.

Moumtzis also said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent at least 200,000 people were also displaced within the country.

Free Syrian Army fighters gather during fighting against government troops in Idlib

A man stands guard during the fighting in Idlib which took place at a time when Kofi Annan is urging for a peaceful resolution to the conflict

He said some 110,000 mostly Iraqi refugees living in Syria are meanwhile reporting increased hardship due to rising prices for basic goods.

Also in northern Syria, the Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, reported intense clashes between government troops and rebels in the town of Maaret al-Numan, in Idlib province, on Sunday night.

The LCC said four civilians were killed in the government shelling while the Observatory said 10 soldiers were killed when their checkpoint was attacked by defectors.

Both groups said that bodies of six people were found Tuesday near the village of Maaret Shoureen in Idlib province.

The LCC said Syrian troops stopped the six who were in an ambulance, ordered them out of the vehicle and then shot them dead.

Two of the people from the ambulance had been wounded in the shelling earlier.

Earlier this year, Assad's forces began major military operations to retake rebel-held areas, starting with an attack that recaptured several suburbs of the capital Damascus and followed by the offensive in Homs.

The operation in Idlib province, of which Idlib is the provincial capital, is the latest.

A man covers his son moments after his death at a hospital in Idlib. He is believed to have been killed by a Syrian government sniper

Relatives and friends mourn the death of the man after his death in hospital